


Scarred Memories

by RikuKingdomHearts3



Category: Big Hero 6 (2014)
Genre: Angst, Depression, Emotional Hurt, Eventual Happy Ending, Gen, Heavy Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, Poor Hiro, Scars, emotional trama
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2020-01-10
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:08:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21958636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RikuKingdomHearts3/pseuds/RikuKingdomHearts3
Summary: Hiro had watched Tadashi run into a burning building. He had tried to run in after his brother, but the building had blown up in a fiery explosion shortly after. But what if he was just a little closer to the building when it exploded? With the flames of the fire reaching outwards towards him, it would leave him more than just mental scars on his heart and mind.
Kudos: 14





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! So what better way to spend the holidays then by reading some angst lol. 
> 
> This was something that always made me wonder when I saw the movie. Hiro was very close to the explosion yet didn't get hurt. So I decided I wanted to try and write a deeper more serious story if I could. So here we go!

Hiro watched in shock as his brother ran up to the building which was in flames, his hat falling off as he made his way up the stairs. The panic and fear started to rise in Hiro’s chest as he looked around briefly. There was no one else in the area. Everyone else had cleared away...yet Tadashi was the only one who decided to run right into a burning building. 

Looking down he saw that Tadashi’s hat was laying just a few inches in front of him. He ran forward and picked it up. He stared down at it as he quickly thought about his brother. He couldn’t just let his brother run in there… it was too dangerous. He had to try and save him. Hiro wasn’t just going to stand around and do nothing. He had to go after Tadashi.

Hiro looked back up at the burning building and started heading towards the stairs as quickly as he could, not even noticing that Tadashi’s had slipped out of his hands. Just as he had begun his way up the stairs, fire burst out from the doors and windows. 

From the brightness of the fire and the intensity of the heat, Hiro instinctively held up his arms over his face. 

The force of the blast seemed to send him flying back, but he could still feel the heat of the fire. 

It was still getting closer. 

In the next second the tips of the flames seemed to latch onto his wrist and his jacket. It only took a few seconds before a horrid stinging feeling ran through his arms. It felt as if a thousand needles were trying to dig into his skin. Hiro screams as the flames seemed to grow around him.

Hiro cried out as he abruptly made impact with the ground. The world around him now was blurring and spinning. The pain continued as everything slowly stared to fade from his vision though he could hear the sound of sirens and shouting coming in the distance. No longer could Hiro keep his eyes open as darkness clouded his mind and everything went completely black. 

* * *

The explosion is what drew everyone back. The sound had ricocheted throughout the area, catching everyone by surprise. Quickly as they could, people ran back to the building that had just hosted the event earlier that night. As people got closer they could see the large flames rising from the building and the firemen desperately trying to put it out. 

Aunt Cass and all of Tadashi’s friends came running back, as they had not seen Hiro or Tadashi anywhere after they had walked off to talk. Though all the chaos Aunt Cass quickly looked around until she noticed paramedics carefully lifting what looked like a young… familiar boy onto a gurney. 

Aunt Cass’s heart pounded against her chest as she started to run closer to the paramedics. But before she could get any close several policemen stood in front of her to stop her from approaching the blazing building. 

“Please stay back ma’am, it’s not safe,” one of the police said to her. 

“But I think that is one of my nephews over there! I need to get over there!” Aunt Cass shouted as she tried to get past the policeman who were preventing her from going any further.

The policeman look at Aunt Cass before looking over at the paramedics, who were now loading the gurney into to an ambulance. With the nod of his head, the policeman then allowed her to run over there. Running as fast as she could she got to the ambulance before they could close the doors. 

“Wait!” Aunt Cass said as she took in deep breaths to try and calm herself. She tried to look past the paramedics to see who was on the gurney… though there was an uneasy feeling in her stomach. She almost didn’t want to know. “Is… Is that…”

“Are you the boy’s mother?” the paramedic asked as he stepped aside for Aunt Cass to see. 

She felt her stomach drop as she saw the familiar mess of black hair on the boy. It was in fact Hiro. Aunt Cass quickly shook her head though at the question she had been asked. “No I am his aunt, but I am his legal guardian.”

Aunt Cass then told the paramedic her name and he let her onto the ambulance, since only a parent or legal guardian was allowed to ride if there was a kid needing to go to the hospital. 

As soon as Aunt Cass was in the vehicle, the doors were closed and the ambulance took off at a quick speed. Aunt Cass stood in the corner of the ambulance as she watched the paramedics look over Hiro, who was lying unconscious on the gurney. Though his chest rose slowly up and down, the paramedics had still put an oxygen mask over his face. The longer Aunt Cass stared through the more uneasy she felt. She didn’t know how much longer she could bare to stare at her poor little nephew with the state he was in. There was the faint smell of burnt clothes…and maybe even a small bit of burn flesh that made Aunt Cass cover her mouth and look away. Her heart was throbbing with pain now. 

“Are you alright ma’am?” one of the paramedics asked. 

“I’ll… I’ll be fine,” Aunt Cass forced out her words. “But wait…” She looked over at the paramedics. “Was there another boy found? An older one? Tadashi… Hiro’s older brother.”

“This boy was the only one we found outside of the building. There are firemen checking inside the building and another ambulance there at the ready if they find anyone else,” the paramedic replied. 

“Oh… I see…” Aunt Cass’s voice came out shaky and worried. New fearful thoughts started to enter her mind now.  _ “Why was Hiro outside of the building… I thought he and Tadashi had walked off somewhere. Where is Tadashi though? Please… oh please don’t let him be in that building.” _

Tears started to stream down Aunt Cass’s eyes as she buried her hands into her face. Everything had been so perfect before. Hiro’s microbots were such an amazing thing and Aunt Cass couldn’t have felt more proud. But now… everything seemed to be falling apart. Hiro was being taken to the hospital as he had been severely burned…and she had no idea where Tadashi was. She was afraid she was going to lose her only family left. Tadashi and Hiro were the only ones she really had now. Ever since the boy’s parents had died she had done her best to take care of them, though sometimes she didn’t quite know what she was doing. She had still tried her best to make it work and that was what counted. They were still her family… and now she worried she was losing everyone all over again. 

She glanced once more over at Hiro. Though he was unconscious, his face seemed to be controlled in pain. Aunt Cass felt her heart ache again as she walked a little closer and let a long sigh. She pleaded that everything would be okay… though she knew from that moment forward, that it would be far from that. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah this is a more serious type story, idk what other tags I should put exactly, but I am figuring it out. If you have any thoughts let me know though!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so here goes the next chapter, as I said before this is a more serious story, so serious subjects are to be covered. So like the tags say and what I say, just know the topics will be covered in this story.

Hiro stared up at the boring beige colored ceiling. With a long exhale his eyes shifted over to the window in the room. The curtains were open and light was streaming in everywhere. When he listened closely he could hear birds chirping and the sounds of the city. Grumbling slightly he turned his head to the side, away from the window.

He didn't care what it looked like outside anyways.

Why should he care what's going outside when he couldn't enjoy any of it? When he was trapped in the same boring old room everyday what was the point in seeing what was going on out there? Hiro found it to be pointless to care about those things after a while.

Suddenly the door opened and Hiro saw a woman wearing scrubs walk in. It was one of the nurses who usually came to check on him at this time. She walked into the room and gave a smile as she looked over the status on the medical equipment. "How are you doing right now?"

Hiro sighed as she shifted his eyes away from the nurse. He didn't feel like answering that. He just wanted to be left alone, but he knew that couldn't be the case given his circumstance.

The nurses smile faded a little as she looked over at Hiro. "Is there… anything I can get for you? Need something or drink or anything?"

While still looking away Hiro replied. "I'm fine…"

"Well it's almost lunchtime so I'll be back later to see what food you want, okay?"

"Sure…" Hiro muttered, his eyes eyes glancing over at the window. "Do… you think you can close the curtains though?"

"Oh, you want them closed?" the nurse asked as she walked over to the window.

"Yeah…"

"All right, if that's what you want," the nurse said as she pulled the curtains closed.

The light from outside was blocked and now the room felt a little bit darker. Hiro sighed as he stared back up at the ceiling again, without even thanking the nurse. The nurse stood there though, looking over at the young boy. After seeing that he was not in a talking mood she walked towards the door leading out.

"If that's all then I guess I'll be going for now," the nurse said before she left the room.

As soon as she had left Hiro had thought about her asking her certain questions… but he knew it was pointless to ask. No one there was giving him the answers he wanted to know. He had been in the hospital for a week and a half, and no one seemed to care to tell him what had happened that night.

Hiro gently ran his fingers over his bandaged arms. They were a bit annoying to Hiro but the bandages were meant to help things heal better and not run the risk of further damage. He continued to run his fingers over his arms as he tired to remember back to that night. He remembered talking with Tadashi about something… and then there was the building. It was on fire and… and...Tadashi…

Hiro began to shake slightly as he remembered vaguely what had happened. Tadashi had run into the burning building… and he had started to follow...but everything after that was blurred out and Hiro couldn't recall anything. Though he knew what had happened… it was hard to ignore his arms and hands. The doctors said that he also had a small concussion from colliding with the ground… but that wasn't something noticeable like his arms. There was still pain, but it wasn't as bad as it had been the first few days, though that was probably due to the pain medication.

Still… no one would tell him what happened to Tadashi. No one would tell him anything that happened that night. And that's what made him the most worried. He just wanted to know where his brother was and if he was okay. But he was just stuck there in the hospital with nothing to do. Sure he could watch some tv or something… but he just didn't feel like doing any of that. He had no energy to do anything besides stare off into space and think about what had happened. He couldn't go moving around his room to much… the oxygen tube in his nose could only go so far. So he was pretty much stuck in bed except for the times he would need to take it off...like having to go to the bathroom or something else like that.

While he was lost in his thoughts the door opened again. This time though it wasn't a doctor or a nurse… it was Aunt Cass. Finally. Maybe now he could finally get some answers. Though once she approached the bed, Hiro could clearly see her expression. And it made his chest feel tight and a bit uneasy. Never before could remember Aunt Cass looking so distraught or depressed before. She had always been fun and energetic, and stern when she was upset at him, but this was something else.

Without any words Aunt Cass leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Hiro. With her being so close, he could hear her shaky breath, she seemed to really be shaken up by something.

"A-Aunt Cass?" Hiro asked.

Aunt Cass quickly pulled back from the abrupt hug and stood up straight. "Sorry! I'm just so happy to see that you are doing so much better."

Hiro was half tempted to scoff, but kept his thoughts to himself.  _ "So much better… that's an understatement…" _

After a few seconds he realized he hadn't actually said anything to Aunt Cass. Though he didn't say his exact thoughts, he said something that he felt was close enough. "Yeah… I guess."

Aunt Cass's shoulders slumped slightly as she went to pull up a chair to the side of the bed, and Hiro decided to sit up straight in bed. Once she did she took in a deep breath and let out one long exhale. She stared at Hiro again with those same sad eyes. Hiro really started to wonder what she was so upset about… was it about him? Or was it something that happened while he was stuck in the hospital?

"Hiro…" Aunt Cass started as she cleared her throat. "There are… some things we need to talk about."

Hiro's gut tighten a little. Having Aunt Cass in front of him saying those words worried him far more than he let on. "What is it? Where is… Where's…" Hiro was too afraid to finish his own sentence as his heart started to pound against his chest.

Lowered his head she stared down at the floor. "Hiro… It's hard to say this, but Tadashi… he…"

The next few words were the words that Hiro had dreaded. The words he never wanted to hear.

"Tadashi… he… he didn't make it out of the building. With the fire and explosion…" Aunt Cass tried to explain, but the words were just too hard for her to get out.

Hiro didn't need to hear any more though. He understood exactly what she meant.

Tadashi was dead. His older brother had died.

"Neither him or Mr. Callaghan… the fireman couldn't find anything after..." Aunt Cass choked over her words as tears began to stream down her face.

Hiro really didn't want to hear anymore… but he knew he should. Though now his heart had started to ache and everything started to feel a hundred times worse than it ever did before.

"What's… happened? How much have I… missed?" Hiro finally asked.

Taking in a deep breath Aunt Cass looked back at Hiro. "There was a memorial set up outside of the building, for both Tadashi and Mr. Callaghan. And several days ago...t-the funeral was held."

Hiro seemed a little surprised. Why had it taken a week and a half for him to get this information? Why wouldn't anyone tell him before? Surely the nurses knew or someone. Why did he have to wait so long to learn all of this?"

"Why didn't… I… Why didn't anyone tell me…" Hiro muttered as he slumped back down into the bed.

"I'm so sorry Hiro. I wanted to tell you. I wanted you by my side at the funeral… as you know… a family thing, but the doctors couldn't let you leave. The first few days… you were so out of it and there was so much attention needed."

Hiro groaned as he closed his eyes. He could barely even remember the first half of the week since he came to the hospital. He had been in so much pain that he needed a lot of medication to try to counter it, and that caused him to pretty much be in a daze until things calmed down a bit. But he still couldn't believe it. He had missed so much...even though what he missed was something he didn't want to happen. His brother had died and there was a memorial and a funeral already held in the time he was stuck sitting around having doctors check over him. He had been stuck there all alone, not knowing anything that had gone on outside.

But what was bothering him most was the main fact that Tadashi was dead.

"Hiro? Are… Are you okay? Do you want to talk about it?" Aunt Cass asked. She was just trying to be the best she could right now for Hiro. She was still suffering from the loss of one of her nephews, and she didn't want to lose the other. She slowly reached forward and gently placed a hand on Hiro's shoulder.

He immediately pulled away from his aunt and turned onto his side, facing away from her entirely.

"Hiro?" Aunt Cass asked again.

No response came from the boy. He could no longer find the words to speak anymore. He didn't even want to talk anymore. He couldn't find any reason to talk about anything anymore.

"Hiro… I know this is a lot to take in, but I… uh…" Aunt Cass started to say, but couldn't seem to figure out exactly what she had wanted to say.

Hiro grumbled and pulled the bed sheet over his head, hoping that would give the indicated that he wanted to be left alone. He didn't move or take off the sheet for a little while, and soon he heard a long sigh from Aunt Cass. He heard a chair being pushed back and figured Aunt Cass was standing.

"I'm sorry… I guess you just need some time alone after hearing that. I… I understand. I'll be visiting more often now though, now that you are better than before. I don't know when, but I hope you can come home soon. I do have this though… it was found outside of the building near where the paramedics found you. I thought… you may want to have it."

She placed the object down and waited for a moment to see if Hiro would respond, but he didn't say anything or move at all. He stayed perfectly still, buried under the sheet. With a heavy heart Aunt Cass turned and left the room.

As soon as Hiro heard the door close, he let out the sob he had been holding in the entire time. Tightly gripping the bed sheet Hiro let the tears stream down his face. He hated everything so much right now. Tadashi… his older brother and best friend… was dead. His brother was dead from the fire yet he survived...and Hiro couldn't stand that.

"Why did Tadashi have to die, but I just get burns and a small concussion? It's… It's not fair…" Hiro muttered aloud as his voice cracked from his sobs. Hiro slowly turned onto his other side and saw what Aunt Cass had left him.

Tadashi's hat.

The last thing he had from that night...from his brother… was his hat.

Hiro slowly reached forward and grabbed the hat. He held it close to his chest and let more tears fall down his face. There was a great pain in his heart that had formed and wouldn't leave. As he cried over the loss of his brother he recalled what one of the last things Aunt Cass had said before she had left.

_ "I don't know when, but I hope you can come home soon." _

Hiro grumbled as a mix of a sob and a frustrated sigh came out. He knew he was alone in his room, but he still felt like expressing his words out loud. "Wh-why would I want to go home!? What's the point? T-Tadashi...he's g-gone… I don't see why… I would want to go home. It's … so unfair…"


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, next chapter here and ready. Get ready for some more angsty feels in this one.

For the remainder of the day Hiro didn’t speak a word. He no longer felt like talking at all. Whenever the nurses or doctors would ask him a question he would only nod or shake his head. There wasn’t anything he wanted to talk about or do anyways. Now that he knew what had happened… he didn’t feel like doing much else. All he did for the rest of the day was stare down at Tadashi’s hat. The baseball cap that Tadashi always seemed to wear all the time… that was the only thing Hiro had left of his older brother. 

He had a sinking feeling in his gut every since he had started thinking about that night, but he never wanted to believe it was true. Every part of his body and mind denied the thought that Tadashi didn’t make it out of the building. But everyone once and a while those thoughts had slipped into his mind. And now… those thoughts were there full time now that he knew the painful truth.

It was hours past dinner now. The doctors had made their last check on Hiro before leaving him alone for the night. Hiro looked at at his brothers baseball cap again, running his fingers over the San Fransokyo Ninja’s logo that was embroidered on the front. The longer he stared at it, the more his heart stared to hurt. He clutched one hand over his chest. He had never felt pain like this before. The pain from the burns was one thing… but this level of pain was something else entirely. It felt as if his heart was trying to twist to the point that it would snap. 

Hiro’s vision blurred as warm tears streamed down his face again. He began to cry as he brought his legs up against his chest. Since Hiro didn’t care to wipe away the tears, they fell down his face and onto Tadashi’s hat.

“Tadashi why?...Why did you have to be such an knucklehead...Why are...w-were you always such an idiot?” Hiro mumbled this to no one as he was alone in his room. Though maybe he was mumbling to the closest item he had to remind him of his brother. It felt a bit better to speak aloud at least that just having the thoughts in his head. “W-Why… Why did you have to run in there?”

The pain surged again and it didn’t stop, it just kept coming. Every thought, every memory of his brother was now filled with pain. He could no longer think back to those happy memories of him and his brother without wanting to cry. 

Never again would he be able to hangout with his brother. Tadashi would never be there again to teach Hiro karate. Hiro would no longer be able to joke around and just have fun with him. The dream of going to the same school as his brother...was over. Never again would he get to try and invent stuff with him. His big brother would _never_ be there for him again. His big brother was gone and he could do nothing about it. 

The sobs came out more and more as Hiro rested his head on his knees. There was sadness filling his heart… but there also was something else residing in there. Something else that started to form as soon as Hiro realized he would never see his brother again. 

It was fear.

He was afraid, now that he had lost his brother. He was afraid of what would happen now. 

The fear of being alone mixed with the sadness for the loss of his brother was breaking him inside. “T-Tadashi...I need you. Y-You promised… You promised you would be there for me.”

Hiro was only three years old when their parents had died. He couldn’t even remember them with being so young. But he did remember one thing from all those years ago and that was Tadashi being right by his side. Tadashi had always been there for him, taking care of him like a good older brother. Tadashi was the closest friend Hiro ever had throughout the past eleven years now. 

But that was all over.

In a split second of decisions… Tadashi made a choice that unintentionally broke his promise to Hiro. 

Hiro cried more and more until his voice became hoace. He could no longer speak or sob without having to nearly gasp for a single breath. With a shaky inhale Hiro slowly laid down on his bed. Only now did he attempt to wipe away the tears from his eyes, but there wasn’t much point as they kept coming. He laid there as he tried to calm himself down. He thought over everything again and wished everything was different. He wished Tadashi had never ran into that burning building. He wished the fire had never even started. The longer his thoughts lingered though… he started wishing he could have done more to stop his brother. 

_ “I should have stopped him,” _ Hiro thought to himself now as he wrapped the bed sheets around him.  _ “Why didn’t I do more to stop him? I should have… I could have…” _ Hiro pressed his hands against his face as he let out a weary sigh. When he pulled his hands back he stared at the special bandage wraps.  _ “This...these burns… it’s all because I couldn’t stop him. If I had stopped him… this wouldn’t have happened. Everything would be fine. Tadashi would be alive and everything would be fine. But I just stood there like an idiot...and let him run in there. I got burnt cause I couldn’t stop him.” _

Hiro closed his eyes, pushing out a few more tears. With no more energy to stay awake he turned onto his side and wrapped the sheets around him even more. He held himself tightly...wishing that he could have Tadashi there by his side. He wanted someone to talk to him… someone to comfort him. But he was just left alone in a cold, empty room. 

Slowly Hiro became sleepy much to his surprise, but he welcomed it. He just wanted to sleep and try to relax about everything… though he knew that would never happen. He also knew the doctors would not be too happy if he stayed up the entire night crying. Hiro’s heart rate finally slowed down to a calm and steady pace as his mind slowly faded into sleep. But...unfortunately the news he had learned… and his thoughts he had from the day still weren’t done with him. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo it is the new year now! So let's get up another chapter here.   
> I hope you all have found this story interesting at least. I try my best to work through the emotions on things.

Hiro blinked his eyes a few times to find himself outside in the park, and from what he could tell, it was late at night. Though he knew right away this wasn't just any old park… it was the one just outside of the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology building. The lights around the park were dim, making it hard to really see, but Hiro could easily see the building just several feet away.

" _What am I doing here?"_ Hiro wondered as he walked around the park area.

Suddenly screams were heard in the distance. Hiro turned around and his whole body tensed up. Though he was several feet away he could see the smoke and glow of the fire rising from the technology building.

"No… It… It can't be…" Hiro muttered as he looked down to see that his hands were trembling. He tried to clench them into fists to try and stop the shaking, but it didn't help at all. His heart rate was increasing as he stared at the billowing smoke rising. There was something awfully familiar about seeing that building on fire.

He wanted to run away… but yet he felt like he needed to head towards the building. Something was tugging at the back of his mind, but he couldn't figure out what it was. He slowly started to move himself forward, getting closer to the sound of the fire crackling.

As soon as he got closer he noticed something odd. There were no other people around the area. It was completely deserted. Though he knew he had heard screams coming from people just moments ago. But now everything around him felt completely eerie and empty except for the burning building several feet in front of him.

Hiro shuffled his feet a few more steps forward before he stopped to stare at the building. Everyone was being engulfed in flames and with no sign of firefights coming, the building would be nothing more than a burn frame.

"I need… to get out of here. It's… It's not safe…" Hiro muttered as he slowly turned around.

But as he was doing so he felt his whole body tense up as he could feel the heat against his back. It made him feel uneasy like he was going to be sick. But there was something nagging him in the back of his head. As much as he wanted to get away from the intense heat, there was something keeping him there.

Slowly Hiro turned around to see that someone was now standing just in front of the steps of the burning building… and it wasn't just anyone.

"Tadashi!" Hiro shouted as he ran towards his brother. He could feel his heart pounding against his chest as he ran up behind him. There was his brother. His brother was right there in front of him.

Tadashi turned around and looked at Hiro. "Hiro, what are you still doing here? Everyone else has cleared out of the area. It's not safe."

"Of course it's not safe! Let's get out of here already!" Hiro yelled as he grabbed onto Tadashi's arm.

They needed to get away. Hiro couldn't quite place his finger on it, but he knew that burning building was familiar… and it was bad. With it being on fire Hiro only started to worry more about it. It bothered him he couldn't remember why they needed to get away, but he knew that it was important they did. All he knew was that he needed to get out of there with Tadashi. He needed to make sure Tadashi came along with him.

But that didn't seem to be the case for Tadashi. "I can't." Tadashi then looked back at the burning building. "Callaghan is in there. I need to try and find him."

Hiro started to pull vigorously on his brother's sleeve. All of that was pointless though against his older, stronger brother. His strength was nothing compared to Tadashi's. But he still continued to pull on the sleeve as he shook his head.

"No no no! You can't run in there!" He closed his eyes as his vision started to blur a little. He tried to stop the tears from rushing forward.

"Someone has to help," Tadashi replied almost too casually.

Suddenly Hiro's grip on Tadashi's sleeve was gone and he opened his eyes to see his brother running right into the burning building.

"No! Tadashi!" Hiro screamed as loud as he could, but Tadashi never came back.

His hands started to shake again. He couldn't stop them from shaking as his whole body felt weak. Tadashi had just run into a burning building to try and find Professor Callaghan. He ran in there all by himself. Hiro couldn't bare to just stand around. He had to go after his big brother. Finding some strength within him he ran up the steps and entered the building.

Immediately he was met with intense heat all around him and thick smoke billowing above him. Bringing up part of his jacket to cover his mouth he continued to walk through the blaze.

"Tadashi!" Hiro called out, but he feared no one would hear him over the roar of the fire.

There was so much fire around him… he wasn't even sure where he was in the building anymore. And the heat...it was getting to the point of it being unbearable.

Hiro looked around, but saw nothing but fire and more flames. He tried to call out again though for his brother. "Tadashi! Where are you!?"

Hiro started to feel dizzy from being around such intense heat, but he also felt his breaths get shorter and shorter. He picked up his pace and started to run as he saw on clear path amongst all the fire. He had to find Tadashi as quick as he could. He _needed_ to find him. He couldn't bare to lose him.

Soon in the distance he saw someone standing in the room. To his relief it was in fact Tadashi. Fire still was climbing the walls and ceiling, but there was a clear path right in front of Hiro.

"Tadashi I'm coming!" Hiro yelled as he started to get closer to his brother. He just needed to grab him and convince him to run out of the building. He reached out his arms to embrace his brother once again.

Flames shot up in front of Hiro though just as he got mere inches away. Hiro pulled his hands away quickly, though he could feel the heat trying to singe him.

"T-Tadashi!" Hiro cried out, though his voice cracked half way. The flames in from of him were rising and there was no way he could get past them to get to Tadashi. "Please! Let's find a way out of here already!"

Tadashi didn't answer though. He didn't even turn around to look back at his little brother. He just stepped forward and kept walking.

Hiro's eyes widened. "Tadashi come back! Can't you hear me! D-Don't leave me!" Hiro shouted and shouted, but it was to no avail. Tadashi never once looked back.

More fire soon arose behind from behind Tadashi, causing him to disappear entirely into the inferno. Hiro started hyperventilating as he placed his hands over his chest. Not only was his chest hurting, but his heart was rapidly pounding. And his hands… they wouldn't stop trembling. Why couldn't he stop them from trembling? There was just too much for him to try and process.

"TADASHI!" Hiro cried out one last time before nearly stumbling forward into the fire.

He looked around him to see the fire was slowly creeping in. Hiro thought of trying to run away, but when he looked behind himself, there was no longer a path. The fire had now surrounding him entirely. He was trapped. The heat from the fire grew closer and closer and there wasn't anything Hiro could do to get away. Hiro stood there, frozen in fear, as the fire seemed to whip out and latch on to his wrists.

Hiro screamed as everything around him went white.

* * *

With a jolt, Hiro sat up straight. His breathing was still not anywhere close to calm, but he realized he wasn't in a burning building. He was still in the hospital. It was all just a horrible nightmare.

Hiro shuddered as the imagery from the nightmare was still fresh in his head. He tried to put it aside and forget about it, but the image of Tadashi vanishing in the fire and being surrounded by the fire stuck with him.

" _It's just a nightmare. Just a nightmare…"_ Hiro thought to himself to try to relax… but it didn't really help.

He hadn't had a nightmare that had shaken him up that bad in a very long time. He couldn't properly remember the last time within the year where he had a nightmare that scared him that much.

When he was younger though and had nightmares, he would always go to Tadashi or he would wake up to find Tadashi right by his side. Every nightmare he ever had he remembered that Tadashi was there for him. Tadashi was there to help comfort him and relax him from the terrors that plagued him dreams.

A memory from his past came forth as he remembered a night where he woke up screaming from some nightmare. Not only did he wake from a nightmare, but there had also been a terrible thunderstorm outside. Maybe the storm had contributed to his nightmare… he couldn't remember at this point, he only remembered he was scared. He had started to scream and wail over whatever had happened, but in less than what seemed like ten seconds Tadashi was already awake and holding on to Hiro.

He remembered Tadashi holding him tightly in his arms, rocking him back and forth. He did that while also whispering him soothing things to help calm him down.

He had clung tightly to Tadashi as he cried and cried until his mind was calm enough to drift back into sleep. But even then Tadashi never left his side because when Hiro had woke up the next morning he found Tadashi sleeping right next to him.

It was something he was used to; a kind and brotherly comfort.

Tadashi always had watched over him and took care of him.

But he didn't have that anymore.

He didn't have his brother there to help relax or try to comfort him.

He didn't have a brother to turn to when he needed to talk about things.

He was all alone now.

Hiro slowly laid back down as he could feel the warm tears streaming down his face. He hated every moment of this. He missed his brother more than anyone could have known. He wanted his brother back… but he knew that was something impossible. And that just caused his heart to ache even more.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay next chapter here and ready. This one still has a lot of heavy feels, but either let's get too it.

The next morning Hiro stared off at the wall across from him like usual. He tried to pay no attention to the doctors around him, but they kept asking him questions and checking how he was doing. He wanted to be left alone again. He just wanted people to stop asking him questions. He was tired of it. He was tired of everything. He was so tired after last night… and he couldn't stop thinking about the nightmare.

The clearing of someone's throat thankfully distracted Hiro from thinking too deeply about the nightmare again. The last thing he wanted to do was remember that event. Hiro turned his head to the side to see one of the nurses standing next to his bed. In her hands was a cup a water and a small round pill.

Hiro sighed internally. More pain medication. His arms still ached and hurt slightly, but they were far better than they were a few days ago. They still stung a lot of the time though. But he knew that it could have been a lot worse.

The doctors said he was lucky considering what happened.

They said he was lucky the paramedics had gotten to him when they did, or the burns could have gotten to a much worse level. They were only second-degree burns, which is why they still hurt and caused him pain. If it had reached third-degree burns there wouldn't have been any pain. Hiro almost wished that he did have third-degree burns so he wouldn't have to deal with the pain and aches caused from them.

The burns were still severe and critical when they had found him, considering his jacket had been the first thing to catch fire. He was told there was some areas of his arms that were more burnt than the rest because of his jacket. Apparently during the first few days in the hospital, the days he couldn't remember, they had carefully and surgically removed the jacket from his body.

His arms had gotten the worst of it, but that wasn't all. It wasn't much… but there was a few burns along his shoulders and chest. That was what lead him to having the oxygen tube in his nose. Though he was told it wasn't too bad, they still wanted him to have the oxygen just in case. But it all still annoyed Hiro. Every moment he sat there be was more and more annoyed at everything.

The nurse finally cleared her throat again. "Are you doing okay?"

Hiro blinked his eyes a few times, coming back to reality. He looked at the nurse nodded slightly. "Yeah… I'm fine."

"Are you ready then?" the nurse asked politely as she held up the cup of water.

Hiro nodded again and the nurse carefully held the pill front of Hiro's. Hiro let out another sigh before he tried to take hold of the pill between his fingers. It was a bit hard to hold it properly but he managed to place it into his mouth. The nurse then held the cup of water in front of his mouth. He leaned forward and she slowly tilted the cup so he could get some of the water.

This was the last Hiro probably hated the most. Because of how his and a hurt and how they were wrapped, it made it hard for him to hold things. He could manage to hold small things between his fingertips like the pill or Tadashi's hat, but he couldn't hold things. He hated feeling so useless. He didn't like having to have someone help him do most things. But what else could he do? Until his arms fully healed and he got the bandage wraps off he was pretty much useless.

A second later he swallowed the water along with the pill. The nurse asked him again if he was okay or if he needed anything. Hiro said that he was fine for now. He just wanted her to leave. He wanted to be alone again. Alone with his thoughts and nothing else.

"Later today we will be checking on the status of your arms. We will apply special ointment to help it heal better. And once we check over all of that, it will then be decided if you will be needing skin grafting or not," the nurse said as she checked over Hiro one last time.

Hiro tried to ignore her at this point. He didn't want to hear anything more that she had to say. He didn't want to think about his arms for much longer. If the thoughts stayed to long, the memory of that night started to came back again. But he knew that she probably wanted some response from him so he slowly nodded.

After that the nurse left the room, leaving Hiro alone finally. Letting out another sigh as he laid back down on his bed. He tried to space out, thinking of anything else he could, but his thoughts kept going back to that nightmare. Every time he closed his eyes he kept seeing the flames. The flames that surrounded him and closed in on him. The same flames that prevented him from reaching Tadashi.

Hiro turned onto his side and continued to attempt to push away those thoughts. He just wanted to relax… or try to relax given his circumstances. But the nightmare was relentless and refused to leave his conscious mind. Hiro fidgeted slightly as he tossed and turned on the bed until he return to laying on his back and staring up at the ceiling.

His eyes soon drifted to the television mounted on the wall across from him. He could watch something… but what would he even watch? What did he even care to watch? He couldn't think of anything anymore that would be entertaining. There was nothing he wanted to do anymore yet he didn't just want to do nothing.

"Why does everything have to be like this…?" Hiro thought to himself. "Why… I don't get it. What did I do to deserve this? What did I do to lose my brother?"

He still couldn't get over the fact that he had survived and Tadashi hadn't. But of course he hadn't made it out perfectly fine. Not only that, but the guilt was still eating away inside of him and he made no effort to try and fight it. He could only think of what he could have done.

"If I had tried more to stop him… would he have still gone running in? If I hadn't stood there in shock… could I have ran inside and made it to him in time? Or… would we both have been trapped in the fire then?"

As Hiro divulged deeper into his thoughts, his gritted his teeth in frustration. "Why though!? Why did only I live! Why...Why did this happen to me!?" The thoughts grew more and more as a surge of emotions filled inside of Hiro. "Is this… my punishment for something? Is losing Tadashi and being burnt a punishment? I don't understand! Why does it have to be this way!?"

Hiro turned onto his side, placing his face into his pillow, and let out a yell. He hoped that the pillow was able to muffle his frustration enough. He didn't want to draw anyone's attention to him. He just needed to vent out the feelings that were being pent up inside of him.

As Hiro was going to give another yell into the pillow, heard the sound of the door opening. He turned his head to the side to see who it was, hoping it wasn't a doctor or nurse that had somehow heard him. But it was actually Aunt Cass. Hiro internally sigh. As much as he wanted something to do other than sit alone with his thoughts, talking was on the bottom of the list. He couldn't find the effort or care to start a conversation.

"Hey Hiro," Aunt Cass said as she closed the door behind her. "How are you doing today?"

Hiro stared at her for a moment before he grumbled, not actually giving a verbal response. Aunt Cass sighed slightly as she pulled a chair over to the side of the bed. She sat there for a moment as it seemed like she was figuring out what to say next.

"Are your arms feeling any better?" Aunt Cass asked quietly.

Hiro stared before he turned away to his other side. He still did not want to talk, and he knew Aunt Cass was going to keep asking him things. He thought of telling her he was doing okay, in an effort to try to get her to leave sooner, but he didn't even have the effort to do that.

"Hiro?" Aunt Cass asked. "Is something the matter? Would you… like to talk about anything?"

"No…" Hiro grumbled quietly.

"Oh… well… um…" Aunt Cass said as she tried to think.

"Just leave… me alone…" Hiro then added.

Aunt Cass bit her lip and she tried to keep her emotions in check. This was not an easy situation for her. Since the fire she had been dealing with a lot of things, and those things were not something she ever wanted to have to go through.

The very first hard thing that she had been hit with was seeing Hiro at the hospital that night. It already felt like ages ago, yet it was only a short while ago. Her heart still stung whenever the vivid images of Hiro laying on the gurney came back to her. That whole entire night had been an awful mess, with Hiro at the hospital and doctors treating his burns, and her talking to the police to give them the little information she had.

The next part she had learned that night hit just as hard as seeing Hiro burnt. Tadashi… her oldest nephew… lost to the fire. He had tried being heroic in order to save his professor, but neither of them had survived. The fire had burned down most of the building and collapsed several walls, making it hard to find any remains. Aunt Cass had felt sick upon hearing that, but she later realized it was a small bit better than seeing a dead charred body. That would have been far too much for her to ever seem as seeing Hiro in his condition was already enough.

But after that things just didn't seem to get any better… only worse. Hiro was under heavy pain medication in order to deal with the immsent pain he had been feeling from the burns. Because of that he was completely out of it for days. The doctors had told her if the burns were severe enough he would need serious medical treating such as skin grafting, but from what they could tell it may not be at that point. But the other thing… was Tadashi's funeral.

Hosting and managing that funeral was probably the hardest thing she had done in recent years. It was far harder than when she had been at the funeral for the boys' parents. And the worst part of it was that Hiro couldn't be there. Of course she knew that no boy Hiro's age should have to attention the funeral of his older brother, but she knew it would have been nice if he could have been by her side. That one night she felt more alone that she ever had before. So much of her family was gone now and Hiro was the only one left. She hated to think what would happen if she lost him too. She knew the doctors said he would recover, but that didn't stop the doubt from sinking into her brain.

When she was first able to visit Hiro, she had never felt more relieved to see him again. Though it still pained her to see him with his arms wrapped up as they were. She just couldn't stop thinking about the day he would be able to come home though. Even though she had Mochi to comfort her, she wanted her little nephew to come back already. She knew though she would only have to wait a little longer.

And now after all this, seeing Hiro so distant and resistant was bring forward the hurt again. She knew that he would be upset once he learned about Tadashi and he probably wasn't too happy about his arms either. But she still wanted to try and talk to him. She wanted to let him know that she would be there for him if he needed her.

"Hiro… I understand that…" She started to say as she carefully thought of her words, but Hiro cut her off.

"I said leave me alone!" Hiro said as he raised his voice. He turned back to stare at Aunt Cass. There she could see the sadness and anger in his eyes. He was feeling so many things at once, but yet he refused to talk about it.

Aunt Cass was taken aback slightly by his sudden snap, but she still tried to remain calm. "I'm sorry Hiro… I just wanted to talk…"

"Well I don't… Just… Leave…" Hiro grumbled as he turned away again.

Aunt Cass took in a deep breath. She wanted to keep trying to talk to Hiro. She wanted to remind him that she was there for him. He wasn't alone… he had her to talk to. But he just didn't want to see that. There was more Aunt Cass wanted to say… but seeing how angered and hurt Hiro was made it hard. She didn't want to upset him any more. Slowly she stood up and let out a long exhale.

"Well… Okay then Hiro. I'll let you be… But I hope we can talk sometime soon," Aunt Cass said before she turned to leave the room.

Once Hiro heard the door close he let out his own sigh. His eyes started blur with tears now, but he didn't bother trying to wipe them. He didn't want to push Aunt Cass away like that, but he couldn't help it. There was still nothing he wanted to talk about. If he did end up talking about anything… he knew he would end up snapping angrily about everything. The best thing he figured was just to be left alone with his thoughts… even if they weren't the calmest or happiest of thoughts.


	6. Chapter 6

The rest of the day was just as boring as the rest. Though the only other thing interesting was when the doctors came to apply the special ointment to his burned arms. He tried not to pay attention to them as they carefully unwrapped his arms, but he couldn’t help but glance a few times. Though he regretted it instantly. 

His arms had red blotches all over, with some redder than others. Some though looked lighter and from what he could guess, were healing better. He still didn’t like the look of it at all though. He wanted them to go away… but they were burns… and it wasn’t something that simple. Hiro sighed to himself once they finished putting on the ointment and now just were inspecting how his arms were doing. 

They didn’t tell him anything though. They only kept making notes and examining him. They did talk to one another, but Hiro didn’t quite know what they were talking about. To be fair though he didn’t care to ask them. He was stuck in the middle of wanting to know how bad his arms were, and also just wanting it to go away. It wasn’t enough though for him really to be invested in what they were doing. He started to just tune it all out as they moved from checking his arms to checking his shoulders and chest. 

Hiro couldn’t want for them to leave him alone though. The day had already been long enough and he just wanted to do nothing more. Eventually enough time had gone by and his arms were wrapped up and most of the nurses left the room to go off to do something else. Though a few doctors still remained and still were taking notes.

One of them finally cleared his throat. “Well Hiro, it looks like your arms are healing at a good rate.”

“Oh… really?” Hiro asked, trying to sound invested, but he just didn’t feel like it. He didn’t see how his arms could be healing when they still looked so red and stung. 

The doctor nodded. “Yes, though we do want to keep an eye on them over the next few days, it looks like you won’t have to have skin grafting.”

“Hmm… okay,” Hiro replied, still uninvested. 

“Is everything all right?” the doctor asked, feeling that Hiro seemed a bit more sad than usual. He knew the boy had been dealing with the small bits of physical pain from the burns… but mental pain or stress was a different note. There was still a lot of steps Hiro had to take before he would be able to head home and move on with his life. One of those things was checking how mentally well he was handling his situation. 

“Sure thing,” Hiro replied dryly.

“I’m serious Hiro,” the doctor said as he took a seat next to the bed. “It’s not my area of specialty, and I know other doctors will talk to you about it, but you should tell us if you are feeling more sad than usual.”

Hiro shifted his eyes away. He hadn’t given it a whole lot of thought yet. His heart still hurt when he thought about what had happened, and it always ended up making him feel worse. But he didn’t know how to explain it. He didn’t want to tell the doctor that though. It would probably mean more questions and more explanation. And he just didn’t want to go through more of that. He still just wanted to be alone. 

“I’m fine,” Hiro said, trying to not sound tired with the subject. Maybe if he just told the doctor that he would stop pestering him on it. 

The doctor hummed thoughtfully before standing back up. “All right, but remember, if you have something on your mind. You can tell anyone here. We’re here to help.”

“Thanks,” Hiro muttered, almost too quiet to hear. 

Finally after what felt like forever the doctors all left the room. He knew now he would at least have some more time to himself, at least until the nurse came in to bring him dinner. But now, at least he could just be alone. He tried just to space out, but his mind started to run faster and bring forth more and more thoughts. 

Since the doctor assumed that Hiro wasn’t going to need skin grafting, that meant his arms would just be left to heal normally. But that also meant that there could be a chance that scars could be left. They would be faint, as the doctors had said. Not super likely that they would severely scar, but mostly just be left as a slight discolored look from the rest of his skin. The sound of that made Hiro never want to wear short sleeves again. If his arms were going to look different because of everything. 

Hiro shifted in the bed and rested half his face on the pillow. He stared at the bland wall across from him as he sighed heavily. Everything now was going to be different. In so many different ways his life felt like his life was spiraling downward. Everything had seemed so hopeful and now he was alone and in the dark. 

He his lost his brother to fire. No… he couldn’t  _ save _ his brother from running stupidly into a burning building. He couldn’t save him… he couldn’t get away from the building when it exploded. Because of that his arms were burnt and now he was confined to staying in a hospital. He had been stuck there for a week so far and he had no idea how much longer he would have to stay. Though he still didn’t want to go back home. 

Hiro thought of his bedroom. The bedroom that was half his… and half Tadashi’s. The very bedroom where they had discussed and worked on so many plans and ideas together. It would not just be empty and lonely. 

_ “I still don’t want to go home… but I think I would rather be there… then stuck here in this stupid room every day,” _ Hiro thought to himself. 

Though the longer he kept thinking about going home, the more pain started to surface again his heart. The thought still hurt him that he was going to be all alone now. He wouldn’t have anyone to talk to any more about his ideas or inventions. Tadashi couldn’t give him brotherly advice how to go about his experiments. Tadashi… wouldn’t be there to stop him from going to bot fights… not that he even really cared anymore about those. What would be the point of doing them if he knew that Tadashi wouldn’t be able to come in and save him at the last minute? It all seemed pointless to him now. So much of the things he wanted to do felt pointless and not worth the effort. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I know probably not many are checking this story out... maybe it is how I tagged it or something, or just the story itself. I try for a more serious darker tone for a story with this, just to see if I could work on it.  
> Either way, to those who are reading this, thank you.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some more heavy feels are in this chapter, but that is like every chapter in this. But of course just a heads up.

The next day Hiro remained as quieter than usual. The weight of the past few days was feeling heavier than ever before. Nothing he thought about made him feel any better. There wasn’t even anything at all that could brighten his mood. All he could do was lay around and sulk. 

There was of course the doctors and nurses that came to check on him throughout the day, but he still did not want to talk with them. The fed up feeling of being stuck in a hospital made him feel less likely to talk to any of them. Even though they seemed to be nice and caring, he wanted nothing to do with them. 

Hiro blinked slowly as his eyes shifted around. Despite laying in a bed for most of the day, he found his mind far to active to keep focus on one thing. He would stare at the window for less than a minute before looking over at the wall and then the television. He wondered for a second about maybe watching something. Maybe it would take his mind off of everything. Just maybe. 

He reached halfway for the remote before he stopped. He still had no idea what he would watch. What could he watch that would really entertain him? Was there really anything? Would it really help him feel better, or would it just be a temporary distraction? 

Hiro sighed as he lowered his arm, not wanting to put forth the effort anymore. 

He closed his eyes, trying to find something to bring him ease and peace. But every thought in his mind was all connected in one jumbled mess. 

He thought of Tadashi. Which lead him to think about the fire, and then to his arms. The thoughts of being alone for the rest of his life without his brother came after that.

Hiro winched as his chest tightened. The pain tightened around his heart, squeezing it harder and harder. The awful feeling of emptiness continued to linger inside of him. He tried to shut out the thoughts from his mind. He wanted all the pain and sadness to go away. He wished that everything would be okay even though he knew full well that could never again be the case. 

The sound of the door opening thankfully was enough to pull him from his thoughts. Internally he sighed, happy that his thoughts were prevented from going any further. He knew the deeper he thought on it the worst he felt. 

He turned his head and saw that it was one of the nurses. “Hello Hiro, you have some visitors to see you.”

_ “Visitors?” _ Hiro thought.  _ “Who could be visiting me? Aunt Cass just saw me yesterday so I don’t know who else would want to see me…” _

Hiro realized that the nurse was still looking at him. She was still waiting for an answer from him. While Hiro still did not feel the most talkative mood, there was a small bit of curiosity that he found inside of him.

“Who’s here?” 

“Friends,” the nurse answered. “I’ll send them in.”

Before Hiro could try to figure out what ‘friends’ she could be talking about, he got his answer. Four people walked into the room. Four people that were older than him… that were Tadashi’s age. It was the four friends of Tadashi.

Hiro sighed.  _ “It just had to be them, didn’t it?”  _

Go-Go, Wasabi, Honey Lemon, and Fred entered the room, each wearing a weary expression. Though through that they were trying to show a smile. All of them except for Go-Go, she was a bit too hard for Hiro to read.

“Hi Hiro,” Honey Lemon said. She waved slightly, pushing a bit more of a smile. 

Hiro frowned. “What are you guys doing here?” 

“We came to see you of course,” Honey Lemon replied. “We’re sorry we couldn’t see you sooner.”

Hiro narrowed his eyes. He hardly knew Tadashi’s friends. He only had properly met them the day that Tadashi sneakily took him to the campus instead of a bot fight. Then after that he only really was around them a few more times, one of which included the night of the presentation of his microbots. 

That was that dreadful night…

Hiro blinked away the thoughts. Now was not the time to dwell on that night. Right now he just wanted to understand why they were there. It made no sense to him. 

“Yeah, but  _ why _ ? Why did you guys come?” Hiro asked. 

“Because, we were worried about you,” Wasabi answered. 

Hiro tried to resist the urge to roll his eyes. “Yeah right.”

“We’re telling the truth man,” Fred answered. “We wanted to make sure you were doing all right and to make sure that you we’re going to turn into a villain or anything.”

Go-Go, who stood next to Fred, smacked him right in the arm. He yelped and looked to her to see her annoyed glare. 

“Shut up,” she grumbled to him. “We don’t want to hear your comic book stuff.”

“What?” Fred asked in an honest tone. “It’s just something we should make sure of. You know tragic things like this are like the start of some peoples road to villainy. With a sad backstory and certain motivation-Ow!” 

Go-Go smacked him again. “I said shut up. It’s not going to help.”

Fred sighed. “I thought it would help… or something.” 

Hiro one the other hand still was slightly confused why they would really come to see him. It made no sense why Tadashi’s friends would see him. He wasn’t their friend, and they weren’t his. 

“Hiro,” Honey Lemon started again. “We only want to talk to you.”

“Because you can’t talk with Tadashi, right?” Hiro spat out.

The group’s eyes widened, clear shock and surprise in their expressions. Hiro didn’t care though. He really didn’t want them to be there. They were  _ not _ his friends. So why should they come to see him? He didn’t want friends of his brother to come to talk to him. That didn’t feel right and it only made him think of his brother again. Only more sadness and emptiness came from that. 

“Uh Hiro no… That’s not-” Honey Lemon started to say, he words fading from her voice. 

“Come on little man… you know that’s not the reason,” Wasabi said. 

“Then what is it?” Hiro asked not caring what the answer really was. “You can’t talk to Tadashi anymore, so I’m his replacement. It’s not like you actually care about me.”

All of them looked more hurt than they did before. None of them had expected such harsh words from the young boy Hiro didn’t notice though. He looked away to the window. These people were the last people he ever thought he would be talking to. And still he didn’t want them to be there. He still didn’t want anyone to keep trying to talk to him. After he had snapped at Aunt Cass he couldn’t trust himself to be calm around anyone else. Even around the doctors he felt if they kept talking to him for too long he would end up feeling annoyed and angry. 

He heard a couple of footsteps, but didn’t turn his head back to see. 

“Listen,” Go-Go voice said. He could tell that there was a hint of anger to her tone. “We didn’t have to come to see you. We didn’t have to do anything. But we really are worried about you, that’s why we're here.”

“Sure…” Hiro muttered. 

Go-Go let out a huff. “Fine, if that is how you’re going to be, then I don’t think I need to be here anymore.”

“Go-Go wait,” Honey Lemon started to say, but footsteps were heard leaving the room.

It was quiet after that. No one dared to speak a word. There wasn’t even words that could be found to be said. Neither from the group nor Hiro. He still wasn’t entirely sure what to make of the situation. Had they really come to see him… because they cared? Was that part really true? Had he just upset Go-Go for not believing her?

While Hiro did not turn back around to face the remaining three, he could tell they were still standing there. But now he wasn’t sure what he should say. He started to wonder if he would just keep upsetting. So he decided to stay quiet, not wanting any of the others to storm out on him. 

“I guess maybe we should head out,” Wasabi finally said. 

“Yeah,” Fred replied. “I guess there isn’t much else we can do.”

A long sigh was heard from Honey Lemon. “I’m sorry Hiro. I hope you can feel better soon.”

Without waiting to see if Hiro would even reply, the three of them walked out of the room. If Hiro had turned to look, he would have seen the sad and lowered heads of three. But he still chooses to face away, trying to process everything. Now that he was alone he tried to think on the situation a bit more. He let these thoughts come out more and tried to understand. 

Maybe there was a part of him that wanted to believe them. Having friends to support and help him sounded nice. But he had never had anything like that before. Tadashi had been his only friend throughout his life. Without him, Hiro wasn’t sure if having other friends could really work. Could he really have other friends? Ones that seemed to really care about him? Would they be as nice and caring as Tadashi, or is that just something only a brother can do?

Hiro sighed as he closed his eyes.  _ “Maybe I shouldn’t have said those things… I probably went too far.” _

His vision began to blur while he tried to restrain from letting out a small sob. He had been crying so much over the past few days, and he didn’t want to do it anymore. He already felt so awful and sad inside, but he was tired of showing it. But he was just a young boy. He couldn’t keep his emotions down even if he wanted too. 

The tears came more as he thought over what he had just done. Not only was he upset that he snapped at someone again, but now he was worried he had messed it up. When he snapped at Aunt Cass, he knew he shouldn’t have, but he also knew she would come back at some point. She was his aunt, she had to come check up on him, and he knew she cared enough to. 

But Tadashi’s friends, Hiro wasn’t so sure about. They weren’t close to him, so they didn’t know him as well. Yet… they said they cared to come and see how he was doing. 

Hiro grumbled in between one of his sobs.  _ “Did I mess it up? A-Are they not going to come back now? All cause I told them that I thought they were using me as a replacement for Tadashi? Do they hate me now?” _

Hiro finally turned around to face the other side of the room. But as he expected it was empty and the door was closed. He was all alone again. The sadness started to grow and eat away inside of him. He curled up and brought his knees up against his chest. Another sob escaped from him as he pushed his face into the bed sheet. 

In the past few days all he had done was push away those who were reaching out to him. Those who said that they cared. He felt cold and alone now that he saw what he was doing. The cold was trying to encase him and consume him. If he kept it up, he was sure he would be frozen to the heart. 

He didn’t want that to happen. As much as he was upset by everything that had happened, he didn’t want to lose more. His heart was already deeply wounded from losing Tadashi. Could his heart really take much more of this? He wasn’t sure anymore. But one thing that he did know was that he wanted all of this to be over. He wanted to get out of the hospital. He feared it was one of the reasons that he felt more agitated than he normally would have. He could only hope it wouldn’t be much longer until he would get to leave. He just had to try and wait and hope.


End file.
